Texas Rangers starting pitcher Yu Darvish, of Japan, watches from the dugout as the Rangers bat against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning in an exhibition spring training baseball game, Monday, March 11, 2013, in Surprise, Ariz. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

ARLINGTON — Of the 11 pitchers who have come one out from perfection, only to fall short, few are what you’d call household names. The first was a poor soul called Hook, which must be the most unfortunate nickname ever for a starter. There’s a Tommy, a Billy, a Ron, Dave, Brian, Mike, Armando and, remarkably, a couple of Milts.

But there’s only one Yu, and not just in name, either.

Before he’s done, starting again Sunday at the Ballpark, Yu Darvish will distinguish himself from most, if not all, of his fellow members in the nearly perfect club.

He’ll be better than Hook Wiltse, at least as good as Dave Stieb, maybe greater than Mike Mussina.

More to the point for the Rangers, he’ll be the ace they’ve been in search of seemingly since Reconstruction.

Now this is not to say Darvish will finish what he started Tuesday. For one thing, the Astros aren’t exactly the Angels. Ron Washington gave Albert Pujols more free passes Saturday than Six Flags takes in a weekend, and Pujols still practically pulled the Ballpark down around his ears in Los Angeles’ 8-4 win.

There’s also the question of Darvish’s blistered right ring finger, which he has pronounced “good,” as well as some concern over how he’ll bounce back from throwing 111 pitches, a load so early in the season.

“He told me he feels fine,” said A.J. Pierzynski, who will catch Darvish again Sunday against the Angels. “As far as I’m concerned, he’s on a normal pitch count.”

What do you expect from him?

“I expect him to win.”

If he can just stop the momentum from another poor Matt Harrison start, that might be good enough.

Harrison wasn’t as effective against the Angels as he was in Houston, and that wasn’t pretty. His undoing in both games was an inability to keep his pitches down. Against the Astros, it means cluttered bases.

With the Angels, it means long, slow jogs on a spectacular Saturday afternoon.

On Tuesday Darvish effectively made everyone forget any worries about Harrison, at least temporarily. He could do the same for the Rangers on Sunday against Jered Weaver.

The matchup is particularly interesting in that it pits two top talents with vastly different approaches to pitch selection.

Weaver wins while relying mostly on a below-average fastball because of his distracting delivery and pinpoint control.

“I try to outthink my opponents,” he told Los Angeles reporters last week. “I take a lot of pride in that.”

For most of his rookie season, Darvish only outthought himself. He threw everything in his bag. If he’d had a knuckleball, he’d have thrown that, too.

The bottom came in Boston on Aug. 6, when he gave up 11 hits and six runs to the Red Sox. Washington called him in the next day and essentially told him not to worry so much. Be yourself, he counseled.

The result since then: Darvish is 6-1 in regular-season games with a 2.05 ERA, .159 opponents’ batting average, 81 strikeouts and just 15 walks in 66 innings.

Darvish is prone now to go with what’s working on any given day, not that Pierzynski would blame him if he had other ideas.

“He has so many pitches that are so good, it’s tough to pick one or two,” he said. “He’s got six or seven pitches that are as good as anyone’s.

“You can’t fault him for shaking his head.”

Pierzynski has spent a good deal of effort this spring getting in Darvish’s head. He’s not afraid to have a little fun. In Arizona, the length of a Joey Votto home run brought out Pierzynski’s needle. On Wednesday in the Rangers’ clubhouse, a day after Marwin Gonzalez’s two-out single through Darvish’s legs ruined the perfect game, Pierzynski dispensed with any potential lingering awkwardness by singling out Darvish for extra fielding practice.

“Balls up the middle!” he shouted.

If there’s actually any problem with how Darvish is handling the near-miss, it doesn’t show.

Asked Friday if he’d thought about how close he came to fielding Gonzalez’s grounder, he said through an interpreter, “Not really. I think it was impossible, no matter how you look at it.”

And as for picking up from there and facing the Angels on Sunday?

“My approach stays the same, no matter which team I face. I’m just going to do my job.”

Ultimately, if healthy, he’ll do his job better than just about any Ranger pitcher who’s passed through this town. He’ll do it because, at 26, he’s a power pitcher with a wide assortment of options. He’s also already doing things here that he didn’t do in Japan. No, he’s not perfect, but, as we’ve seen, he’s close.

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About Kevin Sherrington

Kevin Sherrington, a general sports columnist, was born in Dallas and grew up in Houston. He has worked at five newspapers in Texas. He has worked at The Dallas Morning News since 1985. He had no idea his career would come to blogging.